All the Treasures of the World: GEMS

Diamonds can be your best friend. So pretty, so much easier to carry than hundreds of heavy coins, and everybody wants to trade for them. Same goes for rubies, sapphires, and emeralds too, not to mention the over 100 other types of valuable stones detailed in this exhaustive 12-page supplement for any game. GEMS, the first All the Treasures of the World resource kit from Faster Monkey Games, details everything from shiny quartz pebbles you might trade for a beer to enormous star sapphires worth a king's ransom. Plus:

Variations in size and quality, making every stone unique.

Cat's eyes, crosses, stars, and double stars.

Evaluating gems by character type: Jeweler, Merchant, Fence, or PC, with options for underground races and secondary skills.

Since the valuations seem to have no correlation with the properties, it would seem better to have assigned properties that do not imply valuation.

Faster MMarch 18, 2014 6:04 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

Hi Joshua!

My apologies if the tables are not clear. Every gem on Table 3.0.1 is worth 1 sp. That's why it's table 3.0.1: the Section 3 table giving gems worth 0.1 gp (or 1 silver), when size and quality are taken into account.

So the Average, Flawed gem you mention is a 1 sp gem with a BASE VALUE of 5 sp. It would be worth 5 sp if it were not flawed, and that's what the "Base value" column gives. That lets you know, in case you want to randomize what *kind* of gem, to go to Table 2.0.5 (Section 2, Base Value 0.5gp). All the gems on that chart have a Base Value of 5 sp. Say you rolled a 19 and got "Turquoise." That means that your 1 sp gem is a Flawed Turquoise of Average size.

Likewise on Table 3.500, all the results are worth 500gp. The Huge, Flawless one (result of 3 on 3d6) is a particularly fine example of a gem that would usually be worth only 50gp (the Base Value). Using Table 2.50 (= Section 2, Base Value 50gp), a result of Moonstone means that...See more you have a Huge, Flawless Moonstone worth 500 gp.

In other words, Section 2 tables let you determine the type of gem given its base value. If you don't use Section 3 results as well, all stones have average size and normal "good" quality, so each is worth the Base Value: all Coral pieces being worth 1 gp, for example.

Adding Section 3 lets you determine what kind of stone you have, given its worth including size and quality. This adds much more variety: a 100gp gem could be a small, flawed diamond (usually worth 500 gp), or a huge and flawless moss opal (usually worth only 10 gp). The sections are separate to give each GM the choice of how much complexity to include in the treasure roll.

I have had a strong interest in gemology since perusing the gems table in my 5th edition Tunnels & Trolls rulebook (the game that got me into RPGs originally) and wondering (a) exactly what certain gem types actually are and (b) how their relative value [...]

I am proud to be geologist and a gamer with more then a passing interest in gemology. Whenever my players find a treasure trove they can expect precious minerals making up a fair share of the hoard. Given my background I knew I would either love or loathe [...]

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